Helicopter pilot secures vaccines for her parents in Florida while in Afghanistan

Helping her country isn’t the only sense of a duty a helicopter pilot has. She is protecting those she loves most during the pandemic, and she proved you can do it from thousands of miles away.

U.S. Army veteran Fallon Blattner was able to get the much-needed coronavirus vaccine for her mother and father all while in a combat zone in Afghanistan.

No longer on active duty as an Army medevac, Blattner was at a base while working as a commercial helicopter pilot with a contracting company.

That did not stop her from ensuring her parents, who meet the criteria for vaccines in Florida, could have their chance to get appointments and be on the road to increased protection from COVID-19.

“The hotline was opening for vaccinations, so I gave them a call,” Blattner said.

Blattner found protecting her mom and dad from a deadly virus pressing, but so was her job to fly helicopters in Afghanistan.

“I don’t live with my family,” Blattner said. “I want to be able to protect them however I can because I can tell that they’re concerned about it too.”

Fallon’s mom and dad live in Venice, Florida.

“They were really struggling to get on a list,” Blattner explained. “This was before they started doing the registration and calling people.”

Blattner’s father and mother were able to get vaccinated at DeSoto Memorial Hospital once she secured an appointment for them. Her parents take the opportunity and the pandemic very seriously.

“We all have as you get older you have this sense of foreboding that your death is going to come sometime soon, and nobody wants to die,” Gerry Blattner said. “A lot of people were getting very sick, especially older people.”

From an ocean and countries away, at a nine and a half hour time difference and in the middle of a combat zone, a daughter did what she could for her parents.

“Almost a half a day in the future, but that’s sometimes what you need to do in order to get what you want done,” Blattner said.

In the middle of her night, Blattner dialed, Googled and “Eventbrited” before finally landing an appointment.

“It was like the next day they called us,” Gerry said.

Fallon Blattner is visiting home during the month of February, with an urgent call to action for anyone listening.

“It doesn’t just have to be your older parent searching for vaccines,” Blattner said. “If you’re my age or even a teenager, you can help out.”